1800WHERERU: The Secret
by Padfoot's Bitch
Summary: Set after the fourth book in the 1-800-WHERE-R-U series. There's a mysterious girl in town, who knows Jess's brother and her boyfriend. The strange thing is, Jess can't find her. Jess has never failed at finding a missing person, so why is she now? please
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: ::looks in mirror:: Damnit, still not Meg Cabot....  
  
Summary: I started this after reading most of the series 1-800-WHERE-R-U, so, this is right after the fourth, and so far final, book. If you haven't read these books, or at least one of them, you probably won't have any idea about half of what I'm talking about, though I try to give some background to all references of past events.  
  
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Everything was perfect. Well, OK, almost perfect. My suicidal brother, Douglas, was getting better. He's even been eating with the family on an almost daily basis. My other brother, Mike, was happily dating Claire Lippman, a neighbor from two doors down. My parents weren't fighting anymore, and were into the process of rebuilding Mastriani's, one of my dad's restaurants. And me? My boyfriend and I were finally official, with him introduced to my parents and everything. That part, my parents weren't too happy about. I can see why. Rob is 18, 1 ½ years older than me, and has already graduated, whereas I am only a junior. But those things seemed pretty ok... that is until he had to go and open his big mouth and tell them. The other things were totally acceptable, since both my older brothers had graduated and were dating girls that were still in school. But, of course, neither of their girlfriends are on probation, are they? Nope.  
  
Rob and his big mouth. Well, OK, a totally big mouth, that I **really** like, especially when it's kissing me. Thankfully, Rob's mom works for my dad, and my parents are still letting me go to the wedding on Christmas Eve. No, not ours, unfortunately. Rob's uncle is getting married.  
  
Anyways, as I was saying, everything was perfect, or darn close to it. Don't ask me what happened, because I really don't know.  
  
One day, everything's goin' great. The next, Rob's paranoid... or at least I think he is, he keeps looking around //everywhere//, then, Doug starts getting all depressed again, breaks up with his girlfriend for no reason, and all but refuses to socialize with the family. The thing with Doug sets off a chain reaction, a domino effect. Mom and Dad start fighting again. We barely ever see Mike anymore.  
  
I start spending as much time away from home as I can, wherever I can. Seriously. At my best friend's house, which is conveniently located right next door to my house, at Rob's house, which is kinda bad, because I've started looking at everything wherever I go, trying to see what he's looking for, and, finally, the place I spend most of my time, Chick's Bar and Grill. Weird, I know. Me, a sixteen-year old, 5' 2", psychic-psycho, in a bar. It's way cool though, I know Chick personally. And it's not like I drink or anything, usually I just have a Coke along with a burger. And why should I be worried about getting attacked? I have feds tailing me everywhere I go, and I know all the Chick's regulars pretty well. OK,OK, I'll admit it, they all just kinda worship me because I led then on this kick-ass raid to stop a local religious group from killing anyone who wasn't a white Christian, and even white Christians who sympathized with nonwhites or non Christians.  
  
But, that was /weeks/ ago. But, I'm a little glad that they worship me anyway. It keeps all the out-of-towners from me.  
  
But all this is way off topic. After all this had been happening for a couple weeks, I started to notice. Ya, I know what you're thinking, "It took you two weeks to see something that drastic?" Ya, it did.  
  
It went on for awhile. Christmas Eve was amazing. Then, it happened.  
  
Christmas morning. We were almost finished opening presents (there was one left for everyone). There was four, one to mom and dad together, then one for each of us kids. Mom and Dad opened theirs first. It was a set of keys and a title to someplace downtown. Upon further inspection, we found that the title said "12814 Main St" as the address. At the bottom of the box there was a note.  
  
Dear Mr. And Mrs. Mastriani,  
  
I know you are having a lot of trouble rebuilding your restaurant, Mastriani's, and I hope this helps out.  
  
Sincerely,  
  
A Friend  
  
We were all excited, because we now had a mainstream location for our most popular restaurant.  
  
Mike opened his next. Brand new laptop computer, fully decked out with all the top-of-the-line accessories. He immediately plugged it in and booted it up. There was a message on the screen.  
  
Dear Michel,  
  
I made this computer myself, and there is only one other like it in existence, which I have. If you're wondering why I gave this to you, it's because you're obviously a computer techie, just like me, and you deserve only the best.  
  
Sincerely,  
  
A Friend  
  
Mine came next. I, much like my parents, got a set of keys, a title, and a note. I went for the note first.  
  
Dear Jess,  
  
For a free spirit, I give a free gift. Look outside.  
  
Sincerely,  
  
A Friend  
  
P.S. You break Rob's heart, I'll break your neck.  
  
Confused about the PS, I looked outside, right into the driveway. Sitting there was a '72 Harley, a two-tone black and purple, with a bunch of shiny chrome. Hanging from one of the handlebars was a helmet, with leather biker gloves inside. On the other handle bar was a leather jacket. I couldn't help myself, I squealed like the girl I am and ran out to see my new baby. The rest of my family followed close after me, not having seen my present out the window. I looked at the license plate after a careful examination of the rest of the bike. It said "LTNIN-GRL". There was a sticky-note on it saying that it could be changed if I didn't want that, but that I should be proud of being one of the two "Lightning Girls" that survived. Strangely enough, I suddenly was. I have always been ashamed of having been dubbed the "Lightning Girl". Wow, the things that change when someone gets a Harley...  
  
"Well, let's go back inside and let Douggy open his present," I heard my mom say. Nodding, we all did exactly that.  
  
But when Doug opened his present, I could immediately tell that his wasn't good, at least for him. He opened the box, and pulled out a note and a jewelry box. Like me, he took the note first... and paled considerably as he read. His note was longer than anyone else's, two full pages, front and back. When he was done, he was white as a ghost and shaky as a leaf in a tornado. He looked down at the box, and I actually saw tears in his eyes. My brother, who tried to kill himself a year ago today, was about to cry. He seemed to notice this, for he grabbed both the note and the box and ran up to his room, slamming the door behind him. All anyone could do was sit where they were, stunned.  
  
After a few moments, I found my brain again and went up to check on him... and make sure he didn't have any explosives, sharp objects, poisons, or weapons in his room. When I got up there, I did my usual 'bang three times then walk in' routine. Now, he was crying. He was sitting on his bed, with the now-open jewelry box in his hand, just staring at it... and crying. As far back as I can remember, I'd never seen Douglas cry. When he broke his arm, all six times, he would start laughing at the shape of it. When he fell off the garage roof that one time, he wanted to go up and do it again. Last week, when I decked him for calling Ruth "Chubs", well... he couldn't exactly cry when he was out cold...  
  
It took him a minute to realize that I was there, but when he did, he just snapped the box shut, neatly folded the note back into the envelope, and put then both carefully in his pocket. After making sure I couldn't see either of them, he asked" What do you want Jess?"  
  
"Maybe to know why you won't let me see what you got, for one. For another, how about why you were just crying? I've never seen you cry, Douggy, and... it kinda scares me..." I replied.  
  
He walked over and gave me a hug, another very un-Doug-like thing to do. "I can't tell you, and I can't tell you, in that order." That said, he walked back downstairs to eat breakfast, not noticing the envelope in my hand.  
  
As soon as I was in my own room, with the door safely locked, I opened the envelope and unfolded the letter.  
  
Dear Doug,  
  
I told you I'd be back, but you apparently chose not to believe me. I know you know I've been watching you, but you couldn't figure out who it was. Surprise. I hope your family like their presents, it was a lot of work getting them all in the house without waking anybody up, but I managed. I'm giving this back to you, hoping against hope that you'll give it to me again one day, but I somehow doubt that, as you seem to have moved on in life.  
  
I haven't been so lucky. I'm sorry that I couldn't tell you where I was going or why, but I didn't want to put you in danger. I already got my brother in trouble with the law, I had hoped that leaving would keep you out of trouble. It obviously didn't work, since you tried to kill yourself. What I can't figure out is why you would try to off yourself. You still have a family that loves you, a roof over your head, clothes on your back (that one, I'm not too sure is a good thing, since I personally prefer you without clothes, but that's just my opinion), and food in your stomach. On top of all that, you finally had me out of your hair.  
  
Well, now I can tell you where I am, but at a very high risk, and my asking you to a.) not tell anyone, and b.) not try to come find me. I'm out in the woods behind my mom's house. I'd tell you not to worry, but you're probably not anyway, so I won't bother.  
  
Hopefully the feds'll give up searching for me, since they think I'm in South Africa right now, not to mention the fact that my hometown would be the last place to look for me. Just make sure that your sister doesn't see a picture of me, if you even still have any. Great, I just jinxed myself. Oh well, maybe they'll catch me and just put me out of my misery quickly. Not likely, since I'm another "Lightning Girl". Since I left, I've been struck 3 more times. I now use 87% of my brain. About 7 more and I'll have full control over my brain. Wicked.  
  
I have to go now, but I want you to know, I still love you.  
  
Jade  
  
All of this was written in girly script that I never would've associated with her brother. "Well, that was interesting," I thought. "And this is the same person who wrote my note... meaning that she knows Rob. But how?"  
  
After putting the letter back in the envelope, and the envelope on Doug's desk, she told her parents that she was heading over to Rob's house for another gift exchange.  
  
"But, Honey, the roads are so slick..." Her mom had said. Her dad then pointed out that "...Jess wouldn't have gotten her license if she wasn't a responsible driver..."  
  
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =  
  
"God, I love the feel of the wind on my face..." I thought as I got out of town and started going faster, anxious to get to Rob's house. "I wonder what he'll think of my present. Oh, and I can't wait to tell Mrs. Wilkins that Mastriani's will be open for business again soon, I know she loved working there."  
  
She hadn't gotten Rob much, but it suited him...literally. She'd had to ask his mom for his measurements. Leather jacket with an elaborately-sewn "Hell's Angels" on the back. In the background was a picture of his totally cherried-out Indian. She'd been wondering what he'd gotten her for weeks, and it was bugging her to no end.  
  
She'd been so busy thinking about the possibilities that she didn't even notice that she was at his house until she was turning off the engine and putting the kick-stand down (Wouldn't want to scratch any of the perfect paint job would we?) Rob, Mrs. Wilkins, and Just-Call-Me-Gary all came out as she was storing her helmet and taking out the presents. They were obviously surprised to see her on a '72 Harley, much less one in mint condition. Well, Mrs. Wilkins was surprised to see her on it. Rob and Just- Call-Me-Gary were drooling over it. Then she remembered... only 200 had been ever been made in the design she had (short handlebars, as opposed to longer, more chopper-like handlebars.).  
  
Mrs. Wilkins smacked both of them upside the head to get them to stop staring. They both managed to shut their mouths and return her "Merry Christmas". As they went inside to open gifts, she was bombarded with questions. "Where did you get it?" "When did you get it?" "How did you get it?" and "How did you afford it?" were among those questions.  
  
After fifteen minutes of this, she looked at her boyfriend and said," Hon, don't take this the wrong way, but SHUT UP!!!!" His mouth shut with an audible snap. "Thank you. Now, I will answer all your questions after we open presents." Then stuffed the box with his jacket in it into his hands. "Open."  
  
"Ma'am, yes, Ma'am!" he answered with a mock salute. Watching him tear off the wrapping paper and take his present out of the box, Jess was reminded of a little kid. Rob never showed the little kid in him, but she knew it was there, and was happy that he at least let it out on Christmas.  
  
Not even stopping to thank her, he went upstairs, presumably to get her present. While he was gone, Jess handed Mrs. Wilkins and Just-Call-Me- Gary their gifts (a personalized apron for Mrs. Wilkins and a new shop coat for Gary, you know the ones with the name embroidered on the front. His said "Just-Call-Me-Gary" where the name should've gone.).  
  
"So...... do you two know what he got me?" Jess asked, looking at the stairs expectantly.  
  
"Nope, but he sure is nervous about givin' it to you," Mrs. Wilkins answered with a small smile, which jess tried (almost laboriously) to return.  
  
As Rob came downstairs, he looked at his mom and Gary, who said," That would be our cue to leave." They both got up and went into the kitchen, closing the door behind them.  
  
Jess raised one eyebrow as rob nervously came over and sat next to her on the couch. "Who are you, and what have you done to Rob?" she asked.  
  
"Huh?" he said dumbly.  
  
"Well, the Rob Wilkins I know doesn't get nervous about anything, especially giving his girlfriend a gift that she'll love, no matter what it is," she said with a small smile, trying to get him to relax.  
  
It worked. He gave a soft chuckle and seemed to relax a bit. Then she saw the jewelry box in his hand. He handed it to her without saying anything. She opened it to see a ring with small purple, black, and blue stones around the perimeter. Jess looked at him questioningly, as if to say" Is this a proposal, or just a really nice ring?"  
  
"It's a promise ring. Promising that, one day, it will be replaced by an engagement ring, just not yet," he told her, carefully taking the ring out of the box and slipping it on her left ring finger. After a few minutes of silence, he asked," Are you going to say something, or just sit there?"  
  
Well, she didn't do either. Instead, she moved closer to him, put her arms around his neck, and kissed him before he could object. Rob was shocked at first, but quickly recovered and kissed back, putting his hands on her waist, and was still, somehow, surprised when she smiled against his lips and moved so that she was on his lap.  
  
Then his mom walked back in. Neither noticed her until she'd gone back to the kitchen, and, once again, closed the door behind her. They broke apart, but she remained on his lap. Jess laid her head on his shoulder, moving herself to a comfortable position.  
  
"So... do you like it?" Rob asked.  
  
"No," she replied calmly. At his surprised look, she continued," I love it."  
  
"Well, I love you," he said. Now it was her turn to be surprised. Before now, he'd refused to say it.  
  
"Once again, who are you, and what have you done with Rob?"  
  
"Sorry, Rob's out admiring your new bike," he said with a smile.  
  
"Ya, well, my new bike is pretty admirable, if I do say so myself."  
  
"Will you answer my questions now?"  
  
"Of course. Shoot."  
  
"When did you get it?"  
  
"This morning."  
  
"Who gave it to you?"  
  
"I don't know?"  
  
"What do you mean you don't know?"  
  
"Well, it's weird. We were done opening presents this morning when four more seemed to, like, materialize out of nowhere. My mom and dad got a new location for Mastriani's, Mike got a custom-made laptop, I got my bike and jacket, and Doug... well, Doug's was weird. We all got notes with our presents, but Doug got a full out, four-page-long letter, along with a jewelry box. The rest of our notes were signed 'A Friend', Doug's was signed by some chick named Jade, but there was no last name."  
  
"Are you sure it said Jade?" Rob asked frantically.  
  
"Positive."  
  
"Do you still have your note with you?" At her nod he continued," Can I see it?" Shrugging, Jess took it out of her pocket and handed it to him. He quickly took it and read it... then read it again. Abruptly, he moved her off his lap and almost ran into the kitchen, Jess following eagerly, anxious to see what the fuss was about. As the pair went into the kitchen, Mrs. Wilkins and Gary both looked up, surprised to see them surfaced so quickly. Rob sat down in the chair next to his mother's, note in hand. "Ma... she's back."  
  
"What? Who's back?" Mrs. Wilkins asked, seeming worried. She read the note gravely, focusing in on the P.S. "They're backwards..." she whispered.  
  
At that point Jess looked to Gary to see if he knew what they were talking about. He seemed as confused as she did over the whole matter."Someone wanna clue me in here?"  
  
"You said that your brother's note was signed 'Jade' right?" Rob asked. She nodded tentatively. "Did you read it?" Another nod. "What did it say?"  
  
"Well, I can't repeat it word for word, but something along the lines of "I'm sorry I left, but I had already gotten my brother in trouble with the law and didn't want to drag you down with me" then she told him, vaguely, where she was hiding, and to not let me see a picture of her. Then she chewed him out about trying to kill himself,"she answered.  
  
"Where did she say she was hiding?" Rob asked eagerly.  
  
Before Jess could answer, Mrs. Wilkins interrupted," I don't want you in any more contact with that... thing, and I certainly don't want you bringing her back here!"  
  
Ignoring his mother, he said," Where did she say, Jess."  
  
"All she said was "In the woods behind her mom's house." I don't think she wanted anyone to find her." Rob stood up and quickly ran into his room upstairs, coming back down a few seconds later with something in his hand.  
  
Upon closer inspection, the thing was a photo frame. The picture in it showed Rob, 13 or 14 years old, riding a big black and white horse bareback. Beside him was a girl of about the same age that looked like a cross between Rob and his mother, she was riding a snowy-white horse that seemed to have black highlighting it. It was beautiful, the horse, the girl, and the picture itself. "I need you to find her." Rob's pleading voice caught her attention. "I promise to tell you everything afterward, but, please, I need to find her." He now seemed to be holding back tears.  
  
"Can I take this?" Jess questioned, indicating the photo. He nodded." Should have the results by morning then." She smiled, trying to calm him down. Looking out the window, she saw it was getting dark, and realized that it must already be nearly 5:00."I should get going, but I'll be by almost first thing tomorrow." She said goodbye to Mrs. Wilkins and just – Call – Me – Gary, then walked outside with Rob.  
  
"In the letter.... she mentioned that she was another "Lightning Girl"... is she?" Jess queried.  
  
"Yep. Struck by lightning 14 times," he answered distractedly.  
  
"17."  
"What?"  
  
"She told Doug that she'd been hit 3 more times. 14+3=17. Then she said something about 87% of her brain is in use." Jess answered. They stopped beside her bike. Looking at it, she noticed something. The chrome looked like a lightning storm. And the colored part was painted in a way that made it look exactly like the Indiana countryside in the middle of a storm. "Wow, she went through a lot of trouble to get me this..."  
  
"Probably not. More than likely, she painted it herself. She always was a good artist," Rob told her, also looking at the paint job.  
  
Kissing her boyfriend on the cheek, Jess put her helmet on, started her bike, and headed for home, knowing that the next morning, this Jade person would be found.  
  
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	2. ch2

It didn't work. Her powers were still fine, because she knew where the two kids on the milk carton from last night are, but she still didn't know where this girl was and/or is. It should've worked. Jess spent almost an hour looking at that picture Rob gave her the night before, but she couldn't find the girl, whoever the girl was.  
  
Jess barely knew anything about this girl. Yeah, she had enough to do an intranet search with, but the most she could do online was check her email. Seriously, she always had Mike research her projects for her. In all actuality, she could ask Mike to do it for her, but he would start asking questions. Well, Jess could always interrogate Mrs. Wilkins, but the woman didn't seem to want to have anything to do with Girl. She could always call Jill or Allen or Dr. Krantz, but they would get suspicious.  
  
Wait, duh, Chick! she thought. If Rob knew her, Chick probably did too. Jess mentally slapped herself for not thinking of Chick in the first place. He knew everything about everyone in the county.... Ok, well, he knew the down-low about most people in the town and surrounding grit territory. Same diff.  
  
Twenty minutes later, Jess walked into Chick's, expecting it to be empty. Walking up to the bar, she found Joe, the cook, talking with some bikers. When he noticed her, he ask, half-jokingly, "You want your usual, or you gunna go for somethin' breakfast-type?"  
  
Smiling at him, she replied, "Breakfast platter, coffee, and Chick'll keep me alive fer the mornin'." Turning around, she shouldered past a couple of guys to get to her usual seat at the end of the bar to wait for her breakfast and Chick to appear.  
  
Chick and breakfast appeared at the same time. At Jess's raised eyebrow, he said, seemingly in a rush, "Joe's useless at breakfast. Now I only got a coupla minutes, so hurry."  
  
"I need to know about the girl before me that got struck by lightning in this area." The large man raised an eyebrow. "Humor me."  
  
"Lemme go turn off tha stove." With that, he disappeared into the kitchen, bringing her coffee with him when he came back out. "Well, whuddya wanna know 'bout 'er?"  
  
"Her name, why Rob is so damn hellbent on finding her, and how the hell she knows my brother would be good places to start."  
  
Heaving a large sigh, Chick looked like he was torn about what he could and couldn't tell her. Sitting on the stool next to Jess, he hesitantly answered her. "Well, her name was Jade... Jade Wilkins. She was Rob's sister. Don't rightly remember what happened, but she booked it coupla years back. No 'uns seen 'er since. Got no idea how that connects with your bro, tho'."  
  
Jess looked at him. He wouldn't look at her. "I aint gunna push you ta tell me all ya really know, but I wanna know why ya can't tell me."  
  
Sighing again, he said, "Wilkins made me promise not ta tell ya why he's on probation, and she played a big part in it. Now, I answered yer 'why', you answer mine."  
  
"Yesterday morning, there was some weird presents waiting for us, my family I mean. My parents got a new building for their restaurant that burned down. One o' my brothers got a new computer. I got my baby," she started explaining, motioning with her head at her new bike, clearly seen from their position near the door.  
  
"Is that...."  
  
"Yes sirree it is. Anyway, my other brother just got a box and a letter. He wouldn't show anyone either. I couldn't git the box from 'im, but I stole the letter, read it. Kinda went on about a buncha stuff that I still got no clue 'bout. But it said something about her leaving a couple years ago... and it was signed 'Jade'. So, I go over to Rob's house for dinner with him, his mom, and Gary. Showed 'im the note that came with my bike, then told him about Doug's letter, an' he totally freaked out. Now he wants me to help find her." Sighing, she finished her breakfast, and swiveled on the barstool. "It makes more sense now, but I caint find her, which is the unusual part."  
  
"Caint find 'er? Them powers o' yers gittin' rusty?"  
  
"Nope, found two missing little kids las' night, but I aint seen hide ner hair of this girl." Jess said with a sigh.  
  
"So, wutcha gunna do 'bout it?" Chick asked after a minute. All Jess could do was shrug.  
  
Forty-five minutes later, she was leaving the bar to head out to Rob's place, trying to figure out how to tell him the bad news. How does one tell their significant other that they can't find their sister?  
  
Starting up her bike, Jess was suddenly aware that people (namely other bikers) were staring at her, some in awe, others in .... was that jealousy? She didn't really blame them, she had a kick ass bike. Ran perfect, was rare (and expensive as such), personalized license plate (LTNIN-GRL), and a trick paint job. The paint was the best part. At the bottom, it was a really dark purple, that, while all the exact same color, was laid on in a way that made it look like an Indiana cornfield. At the top of the "corn" it turned to dark blue, almost black, laid to appear as big storm clouds. But the real eye-catcher was the chrome lightning coming from the "clouds" and hitting the "corn". It looked like a true Indiana thunderstorm.  
  
Flipping down her visor on her helmet (painted to match the bike), she pulled back onto the road and gunned the engine, relishing the feel of going fast (one of her favorite pass-times, coming second only to making out with Rob, which he was STILL paranoid about.... ). The turnoff that lead up to Rob's house was coming up fast.  
  
Slowing, only slightly for the turn, she continued up the road. Rob's house was right at the end, and she could already see him pacing on the porch, waiting for her. Jess really did not want to do this to him, he'd been so hopeful the night before...  
  
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Hope ya'll like it... thanks to those who reviewed, now do it again...  
  
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	3. ch3

She was right. Rob was as close to being totally heartbroken as Jess had ever seen him. This was only the second time she'd ever seen a boy cry. OK, she'd seen a lot of boys cry, but it was usually because she'd just injured them physically in some way or another. Well, ok, it was so always their own fault, then I end up in detention for it.  
  
But back to Rob. When I pulled up in front of the little farmhouse he and his mom live in, he was on the porch waiting for me. I knew Mrs. Wilkins didn't want anything to do with her daughter, and I also knew that she was home, (plus I wanted to be alone with Rob for awhile, even if it was to deliver bad news.) so I suggested that we go up to his room to talk about it.  
  
When we got into his room, and the door was securely closed, he just straight out asked, "Where is she?"  
  
I just looked at him for a second, then kinda stared at my hands, because I didn't want to tell him. After a minute, he sat down on the bed next to me, and was like, "Jess, where is she? What's wrong?" I then knew exactly how serious this was for him. I can count on one hand the number of times he's called me 'Jess' instead of the usual 'Mastriani'.  
  
"I don't know," was all I could come up with right then.  
  
"What do you mean 'you don't know'?"  
  
"Exactly that. I tried, I really did, and I now know where Andrew Kirk and Eli McKenzie are, but....... I'm sorry, I don't know where your sister is," I said, finally looking at him.  
  
That's when he started crying. I was shocked. All I could even think to do was skooch over and hug him. When I did that, he totally broke down. Now, don't get me wrong, he didn't break down crying harder or anything. I mean, he mentally broke down. I didn't realize it then, but when, a half hour later, he hadn't moved (thought he had stopped crying), I got worried. So, I said that he should, maybe, lay down for awhile (he really looked tired), he just nodded his head and laid down. I kissed his forehead and left the room, closing the door as quietly as I could, and walked downstairs.  
  
On the kitchen table, there was a note from Mrs. Wilkins saying she'd had to run into town and would be back soon. I sat down in the chair by the window that overlooked their barnyard to wait for her to get back. As I looked out the window, I saw something that I had never seen in their pasture before. Horses. A lot of horses. They were right on the edge of the field, grazing, a couple babies laying down in the sun. What's more, two of the adults looked exactly like the two horses in the picture from last night, the two Rob and his sister were riding. He'd never mentioned having horses, but, then again, there's a lot of things Rob hasn't told me. Example: I just found out yesterday that he even had a sister.  
  
A few minutes later, I heard Mrs. Wilkins's old Chevy bumping up the driveway. So did the horses, apparently, because they all ran back into the woods.  
  
When she came into the kitchen, Mrs. Wilkins took one look at me (probably noticing that Rob was unusually absent in the equation) and knew that there was something wrong. "What happened?"  
  
"I'm still trying to figure it out myself," I said, knowing that I had to tread carefully around the tender subject of her (apparently) long-lost daughter. Sigh. This was getting complicated. "I don't know the details of the situation, but Rob has just about completely shut down." Seeing her worried look, I tried to explain without going into too much detail," We were upstairs talking, yes, talking, that's it (unfortunately), and I said the wrong thing, or something, 'cause all of a sudden, he just looked totally.... hopeless. That was about 45 minutes ago, he hasn't talked since, he's just sitting in his room, staring at a wall."  
  
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
Twenty minutes later, I was parking my bike in our driveway, fully intending to go upstairs and grill Douglas. And grill him I did.  
  
He was in his room, reading comic books (big surprise). "OK, Doug, I need some questions answered."  
  
"Like..." he said, not even looking up at me.  
  
"Like, how the heck you know Rob's sister, for a start." Only I didn't say 'heck'.  
  
That got his attention. The question, I mean, not my use of swear words. "How did you even find out he had a sister? I thought he never talked about it."  
  
"He doesn't, but I have ways. And stop avoiding the question."  
  
"I'll tell you if you promise not to tell another soul, living or otherwise."  
  
"Yeah, Dougie, 'cause I see dead people..."  
  
He put down his books, heaving a huge sigh, and took the little black box out of his pocket. He handed me the box, and waited for me to open it.  
  
Inside was, to my disbelief, an engagement ring. When I looked back at him, he said, "We were engaged."

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heehee.....

I know Rob doesn't really seem the type to cry, but it's my story, I'll do what I want with it.


	4. ch4

Jess was in total shock. Douglas.... engaged?!?! No. Way. How, on God's green earth, did THAT ever happen? Two words seemed to be sticking out in her very jumbled thoughts, courtesy of Tears For Fears. _Mad World......_

After five minutes of doing a wonderful impersonation of a goldfish, Jess tried to do that whole speaking thing that seemed to have trouble with. It worked... and it didn't at the same time. Sound came out of her mouth in the form of words, strung together to form a sentence; that part worked great. It was the sentence that came out of her mouth that didn't work so well, not to mention the volume it came out at. "Dude, Mom's gunna be pissed!"

Ya, that was a bad thing to say right then.

"Jesus, just announce it to the whole world, why don't you?" Doug said, making sure the door was shut.

"Sorry, that wasn't what I was going to say... but it came out anyway," I said, finally able to form semi-coherent thoughts again. "I'm going to need some more background here, Douggie."

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No such luck. All I could get out of him was that they had dated for over a year before he proposed and that they were planning to get married the summer after she turned 18, but she got in trouble and had to leave town before they could.

After he told me that much, he threw me(literally) out of his room. What I didn't notice then was that he specifically said after _she_ turned 18, meaning that he was older than her.

But I didn't notice it then. In fact, I didn't notice it until a few hours later. Unfortunately, I noticed it right in the middle of dinner.

I wanted to ask Doug right there and then how much older than her he was(he was actually eating with the family tonight), but knew better than to say anything in front of Mom.

Then the doorbell rang.

I know what your thinking. Jade just turned up to have a chat right? No. It was Mrs. Wilkins.

My mom answered the door. "Mary, how you doing? Come on in." she said, ushering Mrs. Wilkins and shutting the door. "We were just having dinner, would you like to join us?"

"No, thank you, Mrs. Mastriani. I was just wondering if I could talk to Jess for a minute."

Mom seemed a bit shocked. The only people who ever came by to see me were Ruth and Rob. "Uh, of course," she said, looking at me, clearly trying to figure out why Mrs. Wilkins would come in person instead of calling, or why she would want to talk to me at all.

I got up and walked to the living room, where Mrs. Wilkins was waiting. When I got there, mom seemed to have to force herself to go back to the kitchen instead of waiting in the next room to listen in.

I couldn't think of anything to say, so I just blurted out the first thing that came to mind. Luckily, it was, "How's Rob doing?"

Studying the pattern on our couch, she replied, "Better. I got him to eat a bit, but the only thing he'll do is sit in his room, looking at pictures of her." She said the word 'her' like it was a poison. And I thought my family was dysfunctional. "But that's not why I'm here. I wanted to ask a favor of you, actually..." she kind of trailed off.

"Anything," I said immediately.

She seemed to hesitate before asking the favor. I wasn't really surprised with what she asked. "Stop looking." It was my turn to look at the couch. "Please... I know it's a lot to ask, especially since Rob's so adamant about finding her, but, well... things in the past are better left in the past."

Looking at her, I found myself saying, "I can't promise anything. I've already seen a picture of her, so it's pretty much out of my control, and if I do find out anything and Rob asks... I'm sorry, Mrs. Wilkins, but I won't lie to him."

She smiled at me, seemingly torn between being happy or sad. "I'd expected you to say that. What's done is done, but I'm glad that Rob found someone like you to be happy with." Standing up, she gave me a hug and put her jacket back on, preparing to leave. "I'll see you tomorrow, if I know you." With that she left, unknowingly leaving a lot for me to think about behind.

When I got back to dinner, the first thing said (care of Mikey) was, "What was THAT all about?"

I looked at Doug, talking more to him than Mike, "She wants me to stop looking."

"And we're supposed to know what you're talking about..." Mike said confusedly.

Ignoring him, Doug said, "And are you going to?" He seemed to ask the question more because he was curious than actually wanting to know, but Douggie can be a very good actor when he wants to be.

I took a deep breath and replied, "I've seen her picture, it's out of my hands." After a second I added, "But if I find anything, you'll be the first to know."

"Thanks," was all he said before excusing himself. Just a day in the life of me...

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Rogue Almighty: OMG, I didn't even notice the reference until you pointed it out..... but then again, I wouldn'tve, because I haven't, as of yet, read the Mediator series, thought I really want to.

Well, you guys know what to do.


End file.
